Easily Regrow Onions With This Genius Egg Carton Hack
Green onions, or scallions, are versatile vegetables featuring white bulbs and roots at the base and green stalks towards the top. Every part of the scallion is edible and can be enjoyed raw and cooked. They're commonly used in salsas, dips, and salads and as a garnish for various soups and stews. Beyond these uses, scallions are also used in making bread and are a prominent ingredient in Latin American and Asian cuisines. If you regularly use them for your salsas and spreads, you likely just chop off the green shoots and throw away the bulbs with the roots. If this is you, here's a great tip: why not regrow green onions from these discarded parts to save yourself money and reduce your trips to the supermarket?
Green onions are just one of the best produce you can regrow from scraps. You might've already encountered the popular hack of growing green onions in glass jars. The premise of the egg carton hack is the same, but growing them in this organized way has its advantages. For one, the roots won't be a tangled mess, which is particularly useful if you plan to transplant the onions into some soil later. The shoots also remain upright, making it much easier to harvest them.
How to regrow onions on an egg carton
To try this green onion regrowth hack, you'll need a plastic or Styrofoam egg carton to hold the bulbs, with each onion getting its own compartment. Start by closing the carton. Then, carefully cut a small, round hole at the top of each egg slot using a small blade or scalpel. This will be where the green onion stalks will emerge. Take a bunch of green onions with the roots still intact. Chop off the top, leaving about 2 to 3 inches above the bulb, with just a little green showing. Cutting them to this length helps position them upright on the egg carton. It's crucial to avoid cutting too close to the bulb, as doing so might hinder the onions' ability to regrow.
Place each bulb standing with the root end at the bottom of the egg carton. Pour enough water to cover the roots, but keep the top parts above water. Put the tray on a windowsill to ensure they get enough sunlight. With this setup, you can easily snip the green ends when needed for your recipe!
Important considerations when growing onions on water
Remember to change the water every two days. You also need to check and peel off dead, slimy outer sheaths and trim down the roots to about an inch when they get too long or begin to ball up. This green onion regrowing method using an egg carton can sustain growth for about a week or two, yielding approximately three to five full harvests.
While green onions can grow with this method, they gradually lose flavor and nutritional value over time. This is because they aren't able to extract nutrients from water alone. So you might wonder, "Is it better to regrow green onions in soil?" It's important to understand that the soil can provide the plants with the necessary nutrients to nourish and support long-term growth. Because the shoots in green onions are less flavorful than soil-grown counterparts, you may want to replant your egg carton-grown green onions in some potting soil after a week or so to give them the nutrients they need and have your green onions thriving in no time. Planting them in soil helps them develop larger bulbs and allows them to grow thicker, more flavorful shoots.